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Nepal's Political Record • Documented for the Public

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Daily Intelligence

Mixed electoral system remains for 2026 amid reform debate

Date:
Tags:
Election 2026/2082PoliticsElectoral SystemConstitution

Summary

Despite political debate over changing Nepal’s electoral model, the March 5 election will use the existing mixed system. Voters will elect 165 lawmakers through first-past-the-post and 110 through proportional representation, with an overall 3 percent threshold for parties in the PR tier.

Full Briefing

How the mixed system works

The House of Representatives has 275 seats.

Of these, 165 are elected from single-member constituencies through first-past-the-post (FPTP), where the candidate with the highest number of valid votes wins.

The remaining 110 seats are filled through nationwide party-list proportional representation (PR), where voters cast a separate ballot for a party rather than an individual.

A party (or alliance registered as such) must secure at least 3 percent of the total valid PR votes to be eligible for seat allocation.

Reform discussions

Various political leaders have, in recent years, floated proposals to move towards a fully FPTP-based lower house and a fully PR-based upper house.

Others argue that, given Nepal’s social diversity and history of exclusion, dismantling the mixed system could weaken inclusion guarantees.

For the 2026 election, no constitutional amendment changing the basic structure of the House electoral system has been enacted, so the current mixed model remains in force.